Youth and adulthood. It's funny how in our era, the two are so much more acceptably interlinked.
And yet.. and yet not enough.
A well-known Kenyan author addressed us earlier this past week (sadly, I failed to note his name), and the hugely analogical, witty speech he made sent ripples of excitement channeling across the grand and lofty conference hall.
He keenly pointed to us that one ought not "..live the life you have found," and in connection with this explained that we should be ourselves, and not be what we are in that setting of time and place expected to be.
About an hour ago, I'd (thankfully) woken up literally in the middle of the night and enjoyed dinner in the solitude of our living room, and in the company of an ever so entertaining television set.
The Culture Show was on. And the topic? Lego: The Building Block of architecture..
You can only imagine how nostalgic I felt, as memories of 'those block friends I had (literally) made' and that 'block world' I had created, washed over me. A time when my creativity was ungoverned and my small intimate world unencumbered. It was a wonderful time! A time I perennially look back to with such hankering!
It is the fate of one who has not fully reconciled his childhood and adulthood.
One must lead to the other. Block players become block setters. Architects. Doodlers become renowned designers. Soccer boys become soccer men. That's how it is. How it should be.
As Sunny Bindra, yet another illustrious author who graced us with his presence informed, "There are now many more doors. And the strict doorkeepers are growing less and less."
I wonder, then, if I had played more Lego, ..would I be more inspired, more in a position to take up, or even consider, architecture now?
If.. they had not been stripped from my possession so prematurely.. maybe, just maybe..
And I look at the likes of Alvaro Siza, whose aesthetic is clearly Lego inspired..
..and at the same time think about the succeeding generation of architectural connoisseurs, 'taught' by constructive video games, notably the cult computer game Minecraft.
And.. I can't help but be discouraged, because of my prehensile need to be the best at any one scenario in which I exert myself.. an all-or-nothing inclination! (..and they call me unopinionated! Ha!)
I guess I'm overthinking matters, over planning, and quite simply overreacting.. As Mr. Bindra sagely suggested, "Don't make plans. Set standards," a rule I'm only slowly assimilating.
Life really isn't in black and white, and is certainly not topographically interpreted. Maybe that is what's to be learnt as one transitions, breaks out of the cocoon of puerility, and ventures into adulthood, that even though we live in a digital age of 1s and 0s, that reality does not exactly mirror this predictable, predesigned pattern.
In that respect, one should, I believe, build their lives, stacking a brick at a time, with their set 'standard', and NOT blueprint in mind.
Food for thought.
Until later,
Jay.
And yet.. and yet not enough.
A well-known Kenyan author addressed us earlier this past week (sadly, I failed to note his name), and the hugely analogical, witty speech he made sent ripples of excitement channeling across the grand and lofty conference hall.
He keenly pointed to us that one ought not "..live the life you have found," and in connection with this explained that we should be ourselves, and not be what we are in that setting of time and place expected to be.
About an hour ago, I'd (thankfully) woken up literally in the middle of the night and enjoyed dinner in the solitude of our living room, and in the company of an ever so entertaining television set.
The Culture Show was on. And the topic? Lego: The Building Block of architecture..
You can only imagine how nostalgic I felt, as memories of 'those block friends I had (literally) made' and that 'block world' I had created, washed over me. A time when my creativity was ungoverned and my small intimate world unencumbered. It was a wonderful time! A time I perennially look back to with such hankering!
It is the fate of one who has not fully reconciled his childhood and adulthood.
One must lead to the other. Block players become block setters. Architects. Doodlers become renowned designers. Soccer boys become soccer men. That's how it is. How it should be.
As Sunny Bindra, yet another illustrious author who graced us with his presence informed, "There are now many more doors. And the strict doorkeepers are growing less and less."
I wonder, then, if I had played more Lego, ..would I be more inspired, more in a position to take up, or even consider, architecture now?
If.. they had not been stripped from my possession so prematurely.. maybe, just maybe..
And I look at the likes of Alvaro Siza, whose aesthetic is clearly Lego inspired..
..and at the same time think about the succeeding generation of architectural connoisseurs, 'taught' by constructive video games, notably the cult computer game Minecraft.
And.. I can't help but be discouraged, because of my prehensile need to be the best at any one scenario in which I exert myself.. an all-or-nothing inclination! (..and they call me unopinionated! Ha!)
I guess I'm overthinking matters, over planning, and quite simply overreacting.. As Mr. Bindra sagely suggested, "Don't make plans. Set standards," a rule I'm only slowly assimilating.
Life really isn't in black and white, and is certainly not topographically interpreted. Maybe that is what's to be learnt as one transitions, breaks out of the cocoon of puerility, and ventures into adulthood, that even though we live in a digital age of 1s and 0s, that reality does not exactly mirror this predictable, predesigned pattern.
In that respect, one should, I believe, build their lives, stacking a brick at a time, with their set 'standard', and NOT blueprint in mind.
Food for thought.
Until later,
Jay.
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